Provisional Protagonist

I nodded politely. “Got it. Thanks for your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hard work. Head home safely.”

“Yes, boss. See you next week.”

I gave a crisp bow and stepped out of the convenience store.

- Ding-ding

“Ugh. Finally done.”

The morning after I’d set up the date with Yujeong noona.

I’d just finished my night shift at the convenience store and swapped with the manager. Dragging my heavy, aching body, I trudged back home. The store was tucked away in a quiet alley and didn’t get that many customers, but I always felt exhausted once my shift ended.

A date, huh.

After a quick shower, I collapsed onto my bed and stared at Yujeong noona’s profile picture on KakaoTalk.

Even her selfies are pretty.

At the very least, I needed to send her the exact time and place before tonight. I’d managed to lock in the dinner plans, but I hadn’t come up with a single idea for what to actually do.

If we just eat and split up, she might not even count it as a real date…

And the biggest problem of all was the kiss.

How the hell was I supposed to pull that off?

I pulled the candy from my pocket and stared at it.

“This thing only lasts three hours…”

I’d somehow secured the promise, but the odds of us just having dinner and going our separate ways once the actual day arrived were extremely high.

By now the affection she’d felt toward me from the candy had probably worn off completely. If things went really badly, there was even a chance she might cancel the whole thing herself.

“Knowing her personality, she probably wouldn’t cancel a promise she already made, though.”

Still, the situation felt incredibly awkward.

“I have no idea what I’m doing~~.”

I rolled around on the bed, staring at my phone.

Searching for “first date course recommendations” online didn’t help at all. Those guides were made for people who were already in the talking stage, after all. In the end, the only useful thing I found was a list of nearby restaurants.

“Man, it’d be nice if a new item popped up or something.”

The moment I muttered that to myself, a single thought flashed through my mind.

Come to think of it, the Sweet Love Candy Generator was the starting reward for the quest, right?

I quickly opened the Heroine App and pulled up the quest I’d accepted.

“Ah.”

Just as I thought—it really was the starting reward.

As I kept reading, my eyes stopped on one particular line.

Retry available: 2 times.

If there hadn’t been a limit, I would’ve just kept abandoning and retrying the quest until I got the item I wanted. But of course they’d put a restriction on it.

“Well, two tries is still doable.”

It was probably a safety net in case I got a completely useless item or failed the quest outright.

Then I should make use of it.

[The item ‘Sweet Love Candy Generator [Quest Exclusive]’ has materialized.]

I opened my inventory and took out the candy generator.

There were eight candies inside it.

Hmm. Looks like it can still generate candies even while it’s in the inventory.

I took all eight candies out of the container.

I’d taken five with me when I went to work yesterday and used one, so I now had a total of twelve candies.

“This many should be enough.”

I went back into the quest menu and pressed the ‘Abandon Quest’ button.

- Shaaaa

The moment I pressed the button, the ‘Candy Generator’ beside me dissolved into countless sparkling particles, swirling like sand in the desert wind before vanishing into the air.

I’d half-hoped there might be a bug that let it stay, but the Heroine App was mercilessly thorough.

Fortunately, the twelve candies I’d already taken out beforehand remained untouched.

Phew.

It seemed the Quest Exclusive tag only applied to the generator itself. The candies that had already been produced and removed were safe.

It was a little disappointing to lose what was actually a pretty decent item, but if I could pull something better, it would be worth it. I reopened the quest menu.

The number of retries had dropped to one.

I accepted the quest again, claimed the starting reward, and immediately used the box.

The moment the message appeared, a transparent bottle-shaped icon popped up in the upper left of my inventory.

“Hmm.”

The name alone didn’t tell me much.

I tapped the icon.

“Sexual desire, huh…”

This could actually be pretty useful. The desire to kiss someone could certainly be considered a form of sexual desire.

I took the item out of my inventory.

[The item ‘Desire Water Converter [Quest Exclusive]’ has materialized.]

“Whoa. It’s bigger than I expected.”

A transparent bottle had appeared. It looked like it could hold about a liter of liquid.

“And it’s already full of water.”

Perfect timing.

The bottle was completely filled. I rummaged around the house until I found a large water jug, then poured the contents into it.

“Let’s see. Maybe I should try a sip to test the effect?”

- Glug glug

I poured exactly 30ml into a measuring cup.

- Gulp, gulp

“Hmm… it doesn’t taste like normal water.”

There was a faint sweetness to it. Like sugar and honey mixed in just the right amounts. Kind of like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠soda after all the carbonation had gone flat.

But there wasn’t any dramatic change in my body. I felt a tiny bit more energized, but nothing like an overwhelming surge of lust.

“Maybe I’ll drink a little more.”

This time I poured 60ml and drank it. I was curious whether the effects would stack.

- Gulp, gulp

“Haa……”

Only after drinking the additional 60ml did the effects finally kick in. My body grew slightly excited, and thoughts of women flooded my mind.

Yujeong noona, idols, the pretty customer I’d seen at dawn, even the woman who lived upstairs—every face floated through my head.

Especially the image of noona’s lips when she ate the candy during yesterday’s shift change. That was probably because of the quest’s influence too.

I could feel blood rushing downward.

If I hadn’t known this was the effect of the ‘Desire Water,’ I probably would’ve tried to calm myself down.

But right now I’ve got a lot to do.

I went back into the quest menu and pressed the abandon button again.

Just like with the candy generator, the bottle dissolved into sparkling particles and disappeared into the air.

Fortunately, the water I’d already transferred remained behind.

“This is the last one.”

I accepted the quest, claimed the starting reward, and used the box immediately. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠number of retries had, of course, dropped to zero.

The icon looked like a tube of lipstick. I tapped it to read the detailed description.

“Oh.”

After reading the description, I cheered inwardly.

It might not be objectively better than the candy generator or the desire water converter, but it was the perfect item for my current situation.

With this… it might actually be possible.

I nodded to myself.